BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Nghh..."

I fight the urge to grab my alarm clock off of my nightstand and throw it across the room. As much as I don't want to get up, I also don't want to break another clock. I give in to the alarm's annoying beeping and sit up in bed, I lean over and press the off button. As soon as it was off, I heard a voice from the other side of my bedroom door.

"Elijah! Sweetie! Time for breakfast! It's the big day today, too!"

"Great," I mumbled in sarcasm before I spoke louder. "I'll be down in a minute!"

I leave the comfort of my bed and take a moment to stretch my arms over my head, I feel a few of my joints pop which makes me feel a little better. But then again, reality has different plans for me today.

"Well, fuck you too, reality," I say as I slip over one of my tank tops from the floor. I'll shower after I have breakfast.

I head downstairs and my nostrils are filled with the sweet smell of batter, Mom must be making pancakes this morning. Once I'm in the kitchen, Mom takes a step away from the stove and greets me with a warm hug.

"Morning, sleepyhead. You ready for the big day?"

Practically bursting with excitement, Mom. Of course, I can't say that and mean it so I just simply say, "I guess."

Unfortunately, my Mom knows when I'm being sarcastic. "Don't mope, sweetheart. Maybe you'll actually have fun with the Practical, it won't do you any good if you just brood about it all the time."

I know she has a point, but it doesn't make me feel any better about this whole thing.

My school's 'Marriage Practical'...

The whole idea is to pair students to live together like a married couple and earn points by doing so. It was compulsory and went towards my final grade so I knew that despite how much I was dreading it, I still had to at least try and make it work.

"I'll try, Mom," I give her a warm smile. I then noticed a third empty plate on the table. "Is Hana not up yet?"

"I got Hana up and downstairs earlier, she already had her breakfast and is in the living room watching cartoons."

"Ah."

Hana, my little sister. Probably one of the sweetest little girls anyone can possibly meet in their whole life, it's hard to believe that she's only eleven now. How time flies...

Since I won't be able to see and play with her as much when I get started with this whole Practical, I decide that I may as well spend as much of the morning with her as possible. As Mom finishes cooking mine and her breakfast, I go into the living room and find Maya sitting on the couch and watching SpongeBob on the TV.

"Hey, Hana."

"...Hey," I could barely hear her soft voice...and she looked sad, she couldn't even give me a looking glance. This is going to be harder than I thought. "So...you're starting your marriage thing today?"

"Yeah," I nodded and took a seat beside her. "I start it today, I'm gonna be paired up with...someone to be my 'wife'." Man, even saying it out loud is making me cringe.

"...I'm gonna miss you, Big Bro," Maya finally manages to look up at me, she was fighting back tears in her eyes. "You know that, right?"

"I know," I wrap my arm around her shoulder, and Hana immediately nuzzles her head into my torso. "But you're gonna be alright, and also," I lean down and bring my voice down to a whisper. "I'm going to need you here to look after Mom, okay? Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Mhmm," Hana nodded yes. "I promise, I'll do the best I can, Big Bro."

"I know you will," I smile at her, her hazelnut eyes matching my own. "You can do anything..." Not even the accident stopped you from doing your best.

"Elijah?"

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Do you think your partner is going to be really pretty?"

"What?" Hana's innocent question made me chuckle, I wish I had her enthusiasm sometimes. "What made you ask that?"

"Because you've never brought home a girl before! And if she's really pretty, maybe you'll fall in love with her for real!"

Okay, ouch. "I don't think that's gonna happen, Maya. This whole thing is for school, you know?"

"I know, but at least some people would actually fall in love with their partners, right?"

Okay, no more romance films or books for you.

"If she is pretty," Hana continues. "do you think you could at least introduce me to her?"

"...You know what?" I decide to indulge her. "I promise if she's pretty and we get along well, I'll bring her home and introduce her to you and Mom."

Hana's eyes beamed with pure joy. "Really?!"

"I promise," I say again and hold out my pinky this time. "Pinky Promise."

"Yay!"

I can't believe I'm actually making this promise, but then again, I just love seeing my little sister smile like that.

In all honesty, I have no idea what kind of girl I could possibly get paired up with. I just hope it's with someone I can get along with and get this year over with. I also hope they won't mind what I do in my...free time.

Breakfast was fantastic as always, it was no wonder since it was my Mom who made it. At least it's a better comparison to how the rest of the day could potentially go for me. I've barely gotten to school and I'm already getting an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I know for a fact that it has nothing to do with my mother's cooking.

Is it nerves...? No, definitely dread. Well, if I'm gonna have to go through this, I may as well find the two people outside of my family that at least make my life at school tolerable.

"Imagine getting excited over a pixel art character this day and age."

"You've got it all wrong. The fact that it's pixel art lets the imagination run free."

Speaking of which... I could hear the sound of my only friends halfway up the stairs over what could only be their video games.

"I thought I heard you two," I greet them both with a knowing smirk. "And specifically what are you two gawking over this time?"

"Elijah, perfect timing!"

Sadaharu Kamo. From the very first glance, his whole look just screams the word, 'otaku'. Just above average height, bottom-rimmed glasses, messy hair that looks like he shampooed it with grease, and not to mention the fact that he always carries his gaming console with him. But once you get to know him under the weird exterior, he's actually a nice dude compared to most jackasses around here.

"Settle an argument for us, will ya?" Kamo held up his gaming console so I could see the screen perfectly. "As you can see here, RotoSaGa Seven is out and it's got 3D views and you can observe the quality of the newest version of Princess Chloris!" Kamo tilts the screen which allows me to see the the character's face in full view as if I was really looking at someone in front of me.

"Oh, shut up."

And there was my best friend, Jiro Yakuin. He's just as tall as me but with scruffy dark blue hair and red eyes. In middle school, he used to be a cheery and sociable guy with a lot of friends. Jiro was also more physically active and was considered one of the fastest runners back in the day. But now...he's a lot more anti-social ever since he was rejected by his childhood friend, Shiori Sakurazaka. It completely shattered his self-esteem and caused him to gradually retreat into the background and end up becoming almost entirely unsociable. I only met him when I was transferred to this town after grade school.

"Elijah, don't you agree that RotoSaGa One's pixel art leaves room for the imagination rather than having the character's design set in stone? It's the simple innocence that hits harder than over-sexualized bullshit nowadays."

"But you couldn't even pick the heroine back then."

"I think you both have good points in your arguments, but then again...I don't really care." Personally, I think Jiro likes the original game because he can imagine Princess Chloris as Shiori.

"Coming from the guy who plays Genshin Impact unironically," Kamo remarks which makes me a little angry.

"I swear to God, if you compare me to that side of the fanbase again, I'monna smack you like I'm Connery." I may love that game, but Lord do some of the fans give it a bad name.

"Whoa, alright!"

"You mean again, right?" Jiro asked with a chuckle which made me do the same, I think I smacked Kamo after insinuating that I enjoyed the game because of the 'harem aspect'. For the love of God, just leave Aether alone.

"Alright, I'm sorry."

"Anyways, how's your-"

"Hey," Jiro's question was cut short by a rude voice coming from up the stairs, the three of us looked up and saw that voice belonged to... Oh, God. Not her... "You're in the way."

Akari Watanabe... It's like this girl stepped out of the cover of a Gyaru magazine and developed a personality just by watching Mean Girls. Despite how pretty she is with her waist-length pink hair and blue-green eyes, it does nothing to compare to how she actually is. She looks down on people like Jiro, Kamo, and me like we're nothing and finds any way to insult us at the slightest things.

Jiro and Kamo hastily move themselves out of the way of Watanabe and her other two Gyaru friends who are always hanging around her. Once she got to the bottom, she walked right up to me and scowled.

"You're in my way."

"Ever heard of this new thing? It's called saying 'Please.'" I smirk. Watanabe may be able to push around others, but she can't do it to me. No one can anymore... "So, what's the magic word?"

"Hmph!" Watanabe huffed and simply walked past me, intentionally bumping into my shoulder. Her two friends follow after but they stay out of my way, I can hear a few quiet giggles coming from them too.

"Akari Watanabe...she smells so nice," Kamo states now that the girls are downstairs.

"Seriously, man?" Jiro cringes from his comment.

"Stop being weird," I add.

"Come on, you two gotta admit that she's cute."

"How exactly?" Jiro asked. "The way she talks is so unendearing, she shows so much skin that it's vulgar, and she treats us social outcasts like idiots."

"Not to mention she wears too much makeup and accessories," I add. "I swear, one of these days she's gonna start carrying around a chihuahua in her school bag."

"Exactly! I never, ever want to get involved with her type."

"You and me both, man-"

"Minami!"

"..." Son of a bitch...

My body was immediately filled with dread once I heard that name, even more so when I turned my head back and see Watanabe practically fawning over him like every other basic girl does in this fucking school. I swear, once I find out whose idea it was for him to be transferred here too, someone else is getting a broken nose.

"Tenjin Minami..." Jiro sighed, knowing exactly what I was feeling right now.

I swear, people like him and Watanabe are genetically designed for each other, it's almost pathetic.

"I'm a guy, but even I feel like I'll be purified by his sky-high ikeman level! And he's a good guy on top of that."

"Kamo, knock it off."

"For us shadow dwellers, he's poison. No, he's absolute evil. He's such an open-"

"Kamo. Seriously. Stop."

"What? I'm just...oh."

I saw Jiro pointing at me in the corner of my eye, most likely pointing out my sour expression. This always happens whenever I see him or just even hear his fucking name. And every time this occurs, I either just freeze in place until he's gone or I just simply walk away. I silently prayed that it would be the former this time, but I guess my prayer came in too slow as I saw Mina- Tenjin make eye contact with me. The second he does, I turn away and start walking upstairs.

"Elijah! Hold up!" I heard Jiro's voice along with a pair of footsteps, I guess he and Kamo started chasing after me. "You okay, man?"

"I'm fine," I say without even looking at him. "The further I get away from him, the better."

"I know you have every right to hate him, but...don't you think it's time to try and make amends?"

"Jiro's got a point. How long has it been, six years now?"

"I know how long it's been! You think I don't keep track of how many days it's been since..." I take a breath, I don't want to take my anger out on my friends. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's cool, man," Jiro offers a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"We get it."

"How's Hana holding up, anyway?"

"She wasn't exactly happy about me leaving home but she'll be alright."

"You two are practically inseparable," Jiro notes. "it kinda makes me wish I had a little sister."

"Well, you can stop wishing," I say. "she already thinks of you as another brother by now."

"Really?" Before I could answer Jiro, the automated bell went off which meant it was time for us to head to our first class. "Ah, crap. We gotta go meet our brides soon."

"I'll see you guys later, alright?" Kamo heads out and leaves me and Jiro alone. We have the same class so we always end up walking there together.

"Ready to get this over with, man?"

"Yep..."

Everyone around us seems to either be excited, nervous, or upset about this whole Marriage Practical thing. It's been nothing but endless questions about who people think they're gonna be paired with or what kind of person they would be paired with, I honestly couldn't care less and I silently wish everyone would just shut up already.

"Man..." Jiro sighed at his desk beside me.

"I know, right?"

"Jiro," To the right of Jiro sat his childhood friend, Shiori Sakurazaka. She greets him with that same warm smile she always does. "It's finally time for the marriage practical, huh?"

"Yeah..."

Shirori Sakurazaka. I get why Jiro has such a crush on her. She's cute, kind, smart, and a little reserved which allows her to not want to be the center of attention. I could honestly see myself wanting to try and date her but as the bro code instates, 'Thou shall not steal another Bro's crush'. I love Jiro like a brother, but sometimes I just wanna smack him for not getting it over with and finally telling her how he truly feels.

"I feel sort of nervous," Shiori whispers to Jiro. "Is it just me?"

"I'm not good with girls, so I'm nothing but nerves."

That's because the only girl you can speak with normally is her.

"I get shy around strangers, so..." She smiled warmly at her childhood friend. "I hope I'm paired with someone I know well!"

"Y-Yeah..."

Seriously, you two. Just start dating already.

"What about you, Elijah?" She turns to me and offers the same smile but with less blush on her cheeks. "Are you nervous too?"

"Every fiber of my being is waiting for this dreadful program to come to an end, Shiori."

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad. What if you're paired with someone you'll end up liking?"

"..."

"Right," Shiori nervously chuckles after getting a good glance at my 'Really?' expression. "Bad question, sorry."

Our conversations abruptly cut short as the teacher pulled down the projector screen and dimmed the lights. I forgot someone made an entire video that visually explains how this whole program works. I may as well start paying attention to this if I want to at least pass.

"Now, everyone, pay attention. I'm going to begin the explanation. Starting now, you will each live as a pair with your partner in the training dorm," The projector screen plays out a layout of our future living quarters, it kind of reminds me of a small apartment I used to live in before Maya was born. "It's furnished and has a kitchen, so there's no need to worry about day-to-day matters. The sensor in the living room will continuously monitor your lifestyle and actions."

This sensor looks more like a stalker's camera, at least there won't be ones set up in our bedrooms. That's where I draw a line, there are things I do in complete privacy.

"And here is the most important thing," Our teacher continues. "As you are all still students, your bedrooms are separate. Fingerprint verification ensures that only the room's occupant may enter."

That's where all the money for the school has gone into? Wouldn't a key work just the same? And how do they expect each and every one of us to behave like normal adults?

"Don't get carried away. Keep yourselves firmly under control. One more thing. Regarding the A-rank system. Every month, those ranked in the top ten according to their grades will be granted the right to change pairings among themselves."

Oh, that's pretty neat. At least some people wouldn't have to be stuck with a person they hate after the first month. Then again, it would be hard for people who don't get along to act all lovingly together. I just want to get this over with, to hell with whoever I get paired up with. As long as they are willing to cooperate.

"Well, this is my block," I say as I turn to Jiro who has been walking with me since class ended. "I guess this is where we part ways."

"I think I'm in this block too, actually."

"Oh, that's good then," I smiled and looked down at my dorm key. "603...the top floor. Yay..." I grumble before looking back at Jiro. "I'm gonna start my climb, I hope you actually pair up with Shiori."

"Thanks, man."

I smile at him at pat his shoulder. "You really need this opportunity, just get it over with and tell that girl how much you love her already," I chuckle at how flustered he got at the thought of them being simply close together and pat him again, I wave and leave him to calm himself down and start my climb.

I hate you, stairs...

At least the stairs were a short walk from my actual room compared to the climb up to this floor, I wanna find whoever designed this building and smack them with the blueprints. 603...here I am Using my key, I unlocked the door, walked inside, and locked it behind me.

"Hello?"

I call out as I let my bag strap fall from my shoulder, I kind of hope that my partner isn't there so I can at least get used to the layout of the dorm before I have to introduce myself. But that hope was extinguished when I saw a pair of shoes laid out beside the door, my partner was already here.

Alright, Elijah. Just be polite and everything will-

"Hey! Minami? Is that you?"

My heart stops at the sound of that name...coming out of a familiar voice. Dear God, no... My worst fear came to life as I looked forward and saw none other than Akari Watanabe stepping out of one of the bedrooms. Once her eyes met mine, they widened in shock and mild disgust.

"What the hell?!" She wasted no time and stomped her way right over to me and grasped my shirt collar. "I'm partnered with you?!"

Fan-fucking-tastic...

"Could you let go?" I say as politely as I can, Watanabe continues to get a fistful of my shirt. "I happen to like my uniform unwrinkled."

"Will you quit talking all formal? It's creeping me out."

You prefer if I call you a bitch? "Can we just talk first, after you let me go?"

"Now you're too friendly all of a sudden!"

"And you're being unfair here."

"..." Watanabe lets out a pouty huff and stomps over to the couch, she slumps on the left side, crosses her legs, and has her arms sprawled across the top of the couch. "What a buzzkill. This sucks! How'd they come up with this pairing anyway? It makes no sense at all!" She complained as I took a seat on the other side of the couch.

"I'm the victim here too..."

"What was that?" Watanabe sneers at me but it does nothing to intimidate me. Sorry, Gyaru, I'm not so easily flustered.

"I said, 'I'm the victim here too'," I say now looking her in the eye. "I don't want to be here any more than you do, I think this whole thing is a waste of time, not to mention also a lot of money for the school. I already know exactly who you wanted to be your partner anyway."

"Hmph! So tell me who it is then, 'smart guy'!" Watanabe rolled her eyes at me.

"Hmm, let's see," I hold a faux-thinking pose. "He's tall as me, blonde, and...oh! He's a fucking twat," I smirked as Watanabe couldn't even believe the words I used for a specific crush of hers.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Her face grew more red. "Minami is twice the person you can ever hope to be!"

"Bitch..." I mutter under my breath.

BEEP!

I look up toward the sound of a small beep, it comes from a small digital counter mounted on the wall. What once read zero now reads...negative three. Oh, for fuck's sake...

"Oh, crap!" Watanabe exclaimed as she saw the counter as well. "We lose points if we don't get along?!"

"We'll be at a negative one thousand at this rate..."

"Cut the shit!" The Gyaru grabs a fistful of my shirt collar again. "You need to get along with me! Right now!"

"That's hard to do when you're acting like a fucking brat! The attitude isn't helping either!"

"We need to rack up our pint and get to A-rank ASAP so we-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it!" I yank myself away from her grip. "We can switch partners once we get to A-rank."

"Bingo! So you did pay attention in class."

"I'm surprised you did."

"There's no way Minami will be anything lower than A-rank," she says, ignoring my comment. So let's do our best, climb on up, and switch partners!" Watanabe's smile practically beamed.

"Sure, whatever," I say, she seems satisfied by my answer and slouches back into the couch.

"And what about you, Everett? There anyone you wanna switch to once we get to A-rank?" Watanabe asked.

"No, not really. And you can just call me, Elijah. Calling me Everett is weird."

"Buzzkill," She snorts. "You seriously don't have a crush on anyone? Just how introverted are you?" Watanabe's voice hinted at a tease as she crawled closer to me.

"I already said I don't care about this whole practical, so why should i-"

"Come on, Virg," Watanabe snuggled herself around my left arm, one of her distinguishing features was getting way too comfortable. "Don't you want to have someone to do things like this with?"

"Don't test me..."

"But the red on your face says otherwise."

"So what? This is my first time being with someone like this."

"I can tell, Virg. "She teased even more before leaning in closer to my ear. "Don't tell me you aren't enjoying this? I'll try my best to be the perfect wife for you."

"..." Okay, two can play this game! Without even giving it a second thought, my right hand raises itself and gently grasps Watanabe's chin. I lightly trace my thumb against her skin as I look her directly in the eye. "Then I shall try my best to be the perfect husband for you..."

I wanna die!

I look up at the counter and it now reads negative two. "Hey, look! It worked!" Watanabe seemed pleased with the results...and I feel like I wanna jump off of a bridge. "Let's keep this going!"

I seriously have to act like this for an entire month with this girl?

"Just don't push yourself," I say standing up from the couch. "I'm gonna get a drink and some fresh air, I'll be back later." I started walking to the front door but Watanabe's voice stopped me.

"Then I'll have a strawberry milk."

"Excuse me?" I looked back at her like she was crazy.

"I'm your wife now!" Watanabe tilted her head and smiled at me with her eyes closed. "You'll buy it for me, won't you, Elijah?"

This girl...but I hate to admit how cute that smile is. It's only for a month, just push through it.

I smile back at her and once again speak as lovingly as I can. "Of course, Babe. Anything for you." I left the dorm before she could put another word in edgewise...and immediately slammed my head into the door behind me. "This program is gonna be the death of me..."

Akari

Back inside their dorm all alone, as soon as the front door clicked, the pink-haired Gyaru, Akari Watanabe, hugged her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them. "I'm not gonna let some other girl steal Minami away from me. I have to do my best," She lifts her head out of her knees and sniffles...her face is completely red, and small tears begin to form out the corners of her eyes. "This is my first time being like this with someone too, you know..."

Elijah

"'Elijah, do this. Elijah, do that.'" I mumble in a mocking tone as I purchase a carton of strawberry and chocolate milk from the vending machine downstairs. I can't believe I have to resort to acting like some high school lover boy just to make a decent grade. I'm already smart enough to pass on my academics alone this is just insulting.

Once my purchased drinks drop into the dispensary, I grab them both, open the one I bought for myself, and drink it down in one gulp. I like strawberry milk as much as the next person, I have Hana to thank for that, but chocolate milk will always be superior.

One month...just one month and she'll be gone...

"Wait..." I smack myself in the face. Even after she's gone, I still have to act all lovey-dovey with some other girl. "God dammit..."

"Hey, Elijah," The comforting voice of my best friend brings me out of my inner turmoil, I face him and see that Jiro and Shiori are walking up to me together. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Hey, Jiro, Shiori," The latter of the two waves at me with a sweet smile. "Are you two running away from your partners too?"

"Actually, we got paired together!" Shiori spoke with excitement. "It's really lucky if I'm being honest."

"Oh, yeah, really lucky," I smirk as I wrap my arm around Jiro's shoulder, his face immediately burns up. "Right, buddy?"

"Y-Yeah..."

I'm honestly really happy that the two of them were paired together, this was the chance Jiro finally needed to confess how he feels for Shiori. He had no excuse now and I was going to make sure he didn't waste this opportunity.

"What about you, dude?" Jiro asks me as I pull away. "Who did you get paired with?"

"Oh, uh... I got paired with...Watanabe," I admit, letting my head drop.

"Oh, man... I feel so bad for you, dude." Jiro offers a pat on my shoulder but it doesn't really help.

"I'm sure she's not that bad, Elijah," Shiori added. "You should at least give her a chance. If you do, maybe you'll get along with her better than you think."

"Eh, maybe," Shirori's pep talk manages to comfort me a little...until I'm immediately reminded of Watanabe's true intentions. "If she wasn't so set in stone on getting to A-rank just so she can be partners with...Tenjin."

"Oh, god..." Jiro sighs knowing how I really feel now. "I knew there'd be a catch. She's using you to be with that guy, that's just not cool."

"Tenjin's a nice guy," Shiori says without concern, I don't blame her since she doesn't know much about my past. "I'm sure whoever he's partnered with is kind."

"Shiori..." I could tell that Jiro wanted to tell her at least the rundown of why I have such disdain for him, he looked at me and tilted his head toward Shiori.

"Yeah, go ahead. I don't care."

"What's wrong?" Shirori seemed confused by my sudden change in demeanor.

"I'll tell you later."

"Either way," I say. "she doesn't want to be with me so I'm just gonna power through and get us to A-rank so she can be out of my life for good. Speaking of which," I look down at the carton of strawberry milk in my hand. "I need to get this back to...my 'wife' before she gets all grouchy about me taking too long. I'll see you both at school, yeah?"

"Yeah," Shiori nodded and smiled comfortingly.

"See you, dude."

I waved them both off as I left the vending machine, I turned around the corner of the building and I accidentally bumped myself into someone who was turning it too. "Oh, shit. Sorry about that-" I cut myself short as my body stiffened when my eyes met an all too familiar purple color of theirs.

"Oh, uh..." It was Tenjin, he was walking along who I suppose is his partner for the Practical. He tried to keep eye contact with me as a hand was brought to the back of his neck...and had the nerve to try and smile at me. "Hey, Elijah..."

"..." I don't even bother giving him a response and storm off, purposely bumping into him and his partner so I could get to the stairs. That's twice in one day...

Minami

The tall blonde boy watches as the other tall boy of brown hair marches up the stairs with fury in every step, he sighs and lets his head fall. "Man..."

"Who was that guy?" His partner asked.

"Oh, he's... He's an old friend of mine."

"Really? He doesn't seem alright, why don't you go talk to him?"

Minami smiled sadly at that question... he'd been asking himself that same question for the past six years. "Because I'm pretty sure he hates me..."

Elijah

"I'm home..." I call out as I enter my dorm and lock the door behind me.

"Yo!" Watanabe responded from the couch. Since I left, she had let her hair all the way down, changed out of her uniform into a pink tank top and shorts, and removed all of her extra accessories.

"Here you are."

I placed the strawberry milk carton on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch on the opposite end of Watanabe. My mind drifts back to Jiro and Shiori as i rub my hand through my hair. I truly am happy for them and hope that Jiro finally takes the initiative, but I also know that he's more likely to struggle to do so. After that, my mind goes to my encounter with...Tenjin. I only ever run into him once every few weeks and now it's been twice in one day, this is clearly a bad omen.

I'm gonna hate this year...

And what Jiro said about Watanabe using me really got to me more than I thought it did, I don't care but that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt any less.

"Yo, dude, what's got you so quiet?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking is all," I reply.

"Really? 'Cause that sour look on your face says otherwise."

"Don't push it," I know she's just teasing, but that just aggravates me even more. "I'm really not in the mood."

"Well then," She scoots herself closer to me and brings a hand on top of my head to gently stroke my hair. "Why don't you talk to me about it?" Watanabe's fingers circle around my scalp...and I hate how kinda nice it feels. "A proper wife would comfort her husband and allow him to tell her what's wrong."

I'm really not in the mood to play along with this but I don't even have the energy to tell her off either, not like she cares how I actually feel anyway. This is all just pretend so she can be with that blonde twink.

"I just-"

DING DONG!

Saved by the bell! Pun intended.

"I'll get it," I stand up from the couch and head straight for the door, next to it mounted on the wall was a little screen where I could see who was ringing.

Seriously, how much money has this school poured into this damn program?

"Hello?" I answer and the screen shows that it is Kamo.

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanna go hit up Aniroad. I came to see if Jiro wanted to do the same too." He said.

"And what'd he say?"

"He's coming too."

"Sure, I'll be down. I need something to calm my mind anyway." I said before shutting off the screen and slipping my shoes back on.

"Where are you going?" Watanabe piped up.

"Out for a while. I'll be back later."

"Great," I could practically feel her eyes rolling at me. "You're leaving me here when we have negative points?"

"Hey, I got us up to negative one when I called you 'Babe' earlier, that counts for something."

"That's not the point!" Watanabe shouts at me with her cheeks slightly red. "We can't just leave our points here in the negatives on our first day."

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Watanabe began moving her head to the side...and she pointed at her cheek. "Give wifey a goodbye kiss."

"...Come on, let's be realistic for a second."

"What?!"

"Elijah?" I heard Kamo tapping the beep button and his voice came through. "You coming or not?"

"Hmph," Watanabe crosses her arms, purposefully pressing up her chest as she smirks at me. "I guess the Virgin wouldn't be able to handle it."

"Excuse me?"

"Elijah!" Kamo called out again. "Come on, dude. Don't leave us hanging."

"You're just a Virgin, after all. I guess that smooth talk earlier was just bullshit, wasn't it?"

"You do realize that's not really an insult, right?"

"Come on, Elijah! Hurry it up!"

"Still, I guess you'll never have that kind of relationship, so you just can't help it."

"Okay, that's just uncalled for-"

"You and your two virgin friends should go have fun together."

For fuck's sake, she just won't give up!

Deciding that I don't want to hear any more of this, I grab her shoulder with my left hand while my right one grabs her chin like I did a while ago. I lifted it up a little so I could get a better angle.

"You can't be mad at me for this, alright?"

"What are you- Mmph!"

I don't even bother waiting for a response from her and I lower my face down to hers and plant a firm yet gentle kiss upon her lips, I hold it for a good three seconds before pulling away and immediately leaving the dorm.

"There you are!" I was immediately met with the annoyed voice of my friend. "I was starting to think you died or something. What took you so long?"

"I don't want to talk about it..." I'm currently fighting back the heat rising to my face.

"Good! Jiro's already waiting downstairs, we were thinking that after hitting Aniroad, we could grab a bit..."

I allow Kamo's voice to fade out as my mind goes back to what just happened not even a minute ago. I can't believe she riled me up to the point where I wasted my first real kiss on her, I can still feel the warmth of her lips on my own and I can even taste a hint of strawberries...

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

Akari

Akari, meanwhile, was left dumbfounded by Elijah's action. The Gyaru knew well aware of what she was asking for but she never expected her partner to do something much bolder, she slumped down to her knees and brought a hand to her chest and one to her lips...the warmth of another pair still lingered.

"D-Dummy... No one ever said anything about it being on the lips..."

Little did she know that Elijah's action alone managed to bring their negative one back up to a zero. Now things could only go up from here... Or could they?